Unfair as it is to single out one player, it’s also impossible to ignore Seán O’Shea’s role in helping UCC advance to Wednesday evening’s Sigerson Cup final (7.30pm).
He may be lightly switching allegiance from Kerry to Cork in the process, only O’Shea’s impact is undeniable.
UCC are the 21-time Sigerson champions, who last won the third level college football title in 2014, and face Ulster opponents in St Mary’s of Belfast, the teaching training college who last won the title in 2017, for only the second time ever.
Despite taking out the well-fancied UCD team in their semi-final, they’ll still start as slight underdogs against UCC at O’Moore Park, Portlaoise (7.30pm)
That’s because O’Shea, operating at centre forward, has been proving unstoppable – hitting 2-3 in their semi-final win over NUIG at the weekend, bringing his college tally so far in 2019 to 2-39.
The Kenmare player has been in equally prolific form with the Kerry senior team, featuring in all three Allianz Football League victories too in 2019 for new manager Peter Keane, scoring 0-26 in all, including 0-8 against All-Ireland champions Dublin last Saturday week, despite the fact that was his seventh game in 28 days.
Keane will again await the outcome of this game before deciding whether or not to include O’Shea for the fourth round clash against Galway this Sunday (and similarly with his Kerry/UCC team-mate Killian Spillane).
Still St Mary’s won’t be overwhelmed, getting the better of a UCD team, holding them scoreless for the first 36 minutes) which included Dublin star Con O’Callaghan, just like they did two years ago. Stephen McConville and Jarleth Óg Burns played prominent roles in their victory.
UCC are also seeking to make it a double win as they face Mary Immaculate College Limerick in Saturday’s Fitzgibbon Cup final (2.45pm, at the WIT Campus). Both the Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cup are carried lived on the TG4 Spórt Youtube channels (extra-time) if needed.
